Jobless Claims Worse Than Expected; US Consumers Hanging By Thread

The number of people filing for unemployment benefits fell to 365,000 this week from 383,000 the week prior, but this was 10,000 more than the 370,000 consensus. The Labor Department report suggests that companies are still trimming payrolls and that the labor market continues to languish. Bloomberg:

Companies are trimming staff as the worst housing slump in more than a quarter century weakens home prices, consumer and corporate spending and economic growth. The government said last week that the U.S. lost jobs for a fourth straight month.

"The labor market is essentially deteriorating,'' Ryan Sweet, an economist at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report. "We're going to see more layoffs this quarter.''